Abstract The goal of this application is to support travel awards for students, fellows, and early career independent investigators (Rising Stars) for the 2018 Cellular and Molecular Bioengineering (CMBE) Conference. The specific theme of the 2018 conference will be ?Discovering the Keys: Transformative and Translational Mechanobiology?. The goal of this conference is to push the boundaries of mechanobiology research in fundamental research, novel techniques and biological models, and translating mechanobiology research into the clinic. We have planned a conference integrating engineers and biologists with clinical and/or entrepreneurial experience, each of whom has been encouraged to bridge the gap between fundamental research and clinical translation. Our choice of theme is intended to address the key problem of understanding how the field of mechanobiology can continue to advance our understanding of pathophysiology as well as impact human disease. The specific objectives of this R13 application are two-fold. The first is to provide support to six junior investigators and six postdoctoral fellows or graduate students whose submitted papers have been selected for podium presentation on the basis of scientific merit, with a focus on promoting women underrepresented minorities. The meeting will provide these investigators with essential exposure and mentoring to launch or expand their academic research careers. The second objective of this R13 application is to foster adoption of new technologies and share strategies for clinical translation in mechanobiology, which is a burgeoning sub-field of CMBE. The meeting will provide a platform to expose researchers in engineering and biology to the latest techniques, as well as develop a pathway to increase the impact of mechanobiology research in human disease. The specific aims of this CMBE Conference are: Aim #1: Present transformative mechanobiology discoveries and techniques to a diverse engineering and biology audience. Invited speakers will discuss their latest mechanobiology research during their presentations, with a special emphasis on how these discoveries and techniques can translate to the clinic. Aim #2: Outline potential pathways to translate fundamental mechanobiology research into diagnostics and therapies in human disease. This will provide guidelines in how to connect mechanobiology researchers, and in fact the entire CMBE field, with clinicians and industry to increase the translation of this research field. Outcomes will be published in a special issue of the BMES Cellular and Molecular Bioengineering Journal.